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4.30pm: Almost done with today's Markets Live blog. Worth noting that Austar shares ended the day at their highs, gaining 4 cents, or 2.7 per cent, to $1.52. (That's the highest close in more than four years, as the firm prepares to be taken over by Foxtel.)

Transpacific Industries, meanwhle, managed to reverse its early loss to close the day up 1 cent at 78.5 cents (it was off as much as 3.5 cents earlier, following its $35 million class action settlement.)

4.25pm: BHP and CSL (down 3.1 per cent) were the biggest drags on the ASX200, while Newcrest added the most to the index (it rose 2.7 per cent.)

Spot gold, by the way, was recently at $US1652 an ounce, up about $US12 on the day. Oil futures were hovering just above $US102 a barrel.

4.20pm: Among the sectors, energy stocks shed 1.3 per cent, financials 0.6 per cent and materials 0.4 per cent. Telecoms (basically Telstra) was the only sector advance (up all of 0.01 per cent, with Telstra flat.)

4.17pm: Among the majors: BHP lost another 0.6 per cent, while Rio Tinto gave up 0.7 per cent. All the major banks lost ground, with NAB's 0.8 per cent on the day.

4.13pm: The All Ords lost 28.7 points, or 0.7 points, to close at 4373.6 points.

4.11pm: ASX200 closes down for a third straight day. Today it shed 27.7 points, or 0.6 per cent, to end the day at 4,292.1 points.

4.08pm: Reuters, meanwhile, says investors are pricing in two interest rate cuts by the RBA by July and three by the end of the year. That view would help explain some of the weakness in the dollar.

4.01pm: Stock prices just settling. The Aussie dollar, meanwhile, has come off about 0.4 per cent over the past three hours to trade recently at $US1.032.

It has also fallen back below 84 yen, 78.6 euro cents and 64.8 pence.

3.52pm: Should be some economic numbers of note this afternoon/evening from Europe, while French industrial output and German trade figures for February. (Economists are tipping Germany's export machine generated a 12 billion euro surplus for the month, up 50 per cent on January.)

The Fed's Beige book - out tomorrow morning (AEST) - may be the most important US economic news overnight.

3.46pm: Very much range-bound for local stocks over the past couple of hours. Not much positive movement around the region either.

Japan's market is off only about 0.1 per cent, while Shanghai and Hong Kong are both off 1 per cent or so.

In futures markets, Dow futures are up slightly - 23 points to 12,873 - while London futures are down almost 1 per cent.

3.34pm: China's iron-ore imports eased in March but at 187.6 million tonnes for the March quarter were still up 6 per cent from a year earlier.

That demand is feeding through to WA's economy, in particularl, as BusinessDay's Rania Spooner reports:

West Australian iron ore exports led an increase in the state's mining exports to $112 billion last year, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealed today.

Exports for the steel-making commodity increased from $34 billion in the previous year to $57 billion in 2010-2011, the ABS reported.

The mining industry contributed 28 per cent of the WA's production for the financial year, solidifying its position as an economic cornerstone.

West Australian incomes also rose with men earning $164 more each week compared with the previous year. Women's weekly wages also increased, but only by $62 per week.

3.25pm: More trouble on the
automotive front:

More than 120 automotive workers have been stood down without pay, with a struggling Melbourne car parts manufacturer placed into receivership.

APV Automotive Components, based in Coburg, cannot afford to pay its 126 staff thanks to a sharp drop in orders for the parts it makes for Holden, Toyota and Ford.

Receivers took control of the business today after talks to reach agreements on a voluntary redundancy program and a new enterprise agreement failed.

Receiver Stephen Longley said urgent discussions would take place with customers, employees, unions and suppliers to try to restructure the business and resume operations as soon as possible.

‘‘In the meantime, it has been necessary for the receivers to stand down without pay the company’s employees as there are not sufficient funds for us to meet payroll or other operating costs,’’ Mr Longley said in a statement.

The agreement between Pay TV group Foxtel and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that has cleared the way for Foxtel's $1.9 billion takeover of regional pay TV provider Austar has a bit in it for everyone.

From Foxtel's perspective, it clears the way for an expansion that has become crucial as the pay TV group battles growth headwinds caused by soft consumer demand in a weak economy, and a proliferation of "pay-per-view" entertainment alternatives, including Internet-Protocol TV (IPTV).

For pay-per-view competitors of Foxtel, it opens up the market in a way that was impossible before Foxtel agreed to loosen its grip on programming to get its takeover approved.

2.57pm: This just in from Reuters about Fairfax Media (publisher of this blog):

Fairfax Media is in exclusive talks to acquire the publisher of independent news and opinion website Business Spectator, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.

Fairfax and Australian Independent Business Media (AIBM), which owns Business Spectator, have been in exclusive talks for a week, said the source, who declined to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Media reports, which have put the value of a deal around $20 million, have said that Fairfax was vying with News Corp's Australian arm News Ltd for AIBM.

Business Spectator had revenues of $3.6 million in the last fiscal year, according to reports.

The trade surplus may delay any additional cut in the required reserves banks must hold, while a slump in imports and the domestic economy call for an interest-rate cut to support growth, a move that's likely to happen around midyear as inflation drops, Yang says.

2.30pm: A global shareholder advisory firm has urged investors in Japan's scandal-tainted Olympus to refuse to accept the firm's recently restated accounts and to vote against two men nominated to lead the business out of disgrace.

ISS Proxy Advisory Services has made the recommendations ahead of an extraordinary shareholder meeting on April 20, when the maker of cameras and medical equipment will try to draw a line under a $US1.7 billion fraud that threatened to sink it.

ISS noted that the fraud was still subject to official investigations and warned shareholders they could undermine any law suit they might want to pursue in future against Olympus if they voted at the meeting to accept the restated accounts.

2.21pm: As the graph above shows, it has been a bit of a two steps forward, one back session - aside from the big drop in the early moments of trade. Stocks are still down 28.3 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 4291.5 after earlier dropping to as low as 4274.5. The dollar continues to edge higher - it's at $US1.0323.

2.10pm: CVC Capital Partners may seek more than $US2 billion from an initial public offering of the Formula One world championship, Bloomberg reports.

The private equity firm may sell a stake of about 20 per cent to raise that amount.

CVC wants to conduct the sale in Singapore as early as June, and is in discussions with investment banks about its plans.

A Singapore listing would tap Formula One's growing popularity in Asia, and bolster the Singapore stock exchange's efforts to attract companies from across the world. Last September, the exchange approved an IPO by Manchester United, though the sale was scuttled by volatile stock markets.

1.59pm: Summing up today's data releases, CommSec's Craig James says the RBA has signalled that rates may be cut in May and "today's data certainly doesn't stand in the way of a rate cut".

"It now gets down to the inflation figures released in a fortnight. Petrol prices continue to creep higher and the Aussie dollar isn't providing much in the way of resistance," he says.

"Petrol is the single biggest purchase for most families and higher petrol prices also serve to constrain consumer sentiment. In short, difficult times look set to continue for retailers.

"Around two-thirds of businesses don't want to borrow at present, confirming the tough environment being faced by banks and other financiers at present."

1.52pm: Gold prices have risen to a one-week high above $US1650, on course for a fourth session of gains, as hopes for more monetary easing by the Federal Reserve and resilient physical demand in Asia supports sentiment.

Spot gold rose 0.7 per cent to a one-week high of $US1652.55 an ounce, before easing to $US1652.46.

1.40pm: Oil is higher in Asian trade as worries about a possible disruption to Middle East crude supplies outweigh the gloom from the latest US jobs data, analysts say.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May is up 24 cents at $US102.70 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for May has gained nine cents to $US122.76.

"The concerns about geopolitical tension and supply disruptions in the Middle East remain despite the underlying factors that pushed prices down in the past few days," says Justin Harper, market strategist at IG Markets Singapore.

1.31pm: China swung back to a trade surplus last month, reversing a massive deficit recorded in February, the official Xinhua news agency reports.

The country recorded a trade surplus of $US5.35 billion in March, as exports rose 8.9 per cent to $US165.66 billion for the month, Xinhua says.

1.26pm: The Bank of Japan has kept monetary policy steady, holding fire until a more thorough assessment of the economy at another rate review in two weeks that may show further action is needed to nudge inflation up towards its 1 per cent target.

As widely expected, the central bank maintained its key policy rate at a range of zero to 0.1 per cent by a unanimous vote.

The BOJ kept its assessment of the economy roughly unchanged, saying that while economic activity has remained more or less flat it has shown some signs of picking up.

1.16pm: Asian stocks are mostly higher, with the regional benchmark index snapping a four-day losing streak, as trading resumed after public holidays across the region.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has added 0.2 per cent to 124.34 after swinging between gains and losses on the first day this month that all Asian markets will be open.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average is up 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, though, has dropped 0.9 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi Index is up 0.7 per cent.

Mr Bryant replaces Anthony Rose, who left Suncorp Bank to join the Bank of Queensland.

Mr Bryant, who joined Suncorp in 2004, most recently was executive manager for financial forecasting and capital management.

12.52pm: IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock says the release of China's trade figures later today could further affect stock prices in the resources sector which have already dropped in the morning session.

"On these sorts of days, seeing our market is so heavily weighted towards the resource and minerals stocks I'd be watching those names and their reactions," he says.

"Later on this afternoon, we've got Chinese trade balances out which will, no doubt, have a bit of an influence on BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto and Fortescue."

12.45pm: The dollar, incidentally, is was at $US1.0340, up from $US1.0305 cents on Thursday, before the Easter public holiday.

12.41pm: CMC Markets foreign exchange dealer Tim Waterer says buying demand for the US dollar has receded in the wake of the job figures released in the US on Friday.

"This is because with the labour market looking weaker, it looks like QE3 (quantative easing) is not completely off the table, at least for traders.

"So the rampant buying we saw for the US dollar last week has cooled down, and that's allowed the likes of the Australian dollar to make up some lost ground."

Mr Waterer says that Chinese CPI data released over the weekend had not impacted Australian markets much, given more important data due from the region this week.

"There are still a lot of events due to unfold this week," he said.

"I think that's why we are seeing quite a muted range in currency markets in response to the Chinese CPI, given that there's more data around the corner."

12.31pm: Japanese electronics giant Sharp is likely to report a net loss of nearly 400 billion yen ($4.77 billion) for the business year that ended in March, according to a report.

Slackness in its mainstay liquid crystal display television business will drag the numbers below the earlier forecast loss of 290 billion yen, Jiji Press reports.

Japan's electronics giants have suffered in recent years due to rampant competition from foreign rivals sending prices tumbling, together with the effects of a strengthening yen and a stuttering global economy.

12.26pm: More on the jobs data and ANZ says it expects "a trend improvement in job ads and labour market conditions over the next couple years".

"Increased volatility in other activity indicators from the rising importance of mining may spill over into job ads at times, but we remain optimistic on hiring intentions as a result of the mining boom."

12.18pm: Building fixtures supplier GWA Group says full-year earnings are likely to fall by as much as 25 per cent as home building continues to slow and bad weather hits sales.

The company says full year sales are likely to be about 11 per cent lower on a like for like basis, down from nine per cent predicted in February.

Based on March quarter results, earnings before interest and tax were expected to decline by 20 to 25 per cent, a steep drop from the 16 per cent decline forecast in February.

GWA Group shares are six cents down, or 2.97 per cent, at $1.96.

12.03pm: Markets have clawed back some of today's early losses. The All Ords dipped as far as 1 per cent but is back to a 0.7 per cent loss for the day. The ASX200 is also 0.7 per cent lower.

11.58am: Among the sub indices, only telecomms shares are not trading in negative territory. But they aren't trading in positive territory either - Bloomberg currently shows the sub index is trading exactly flat for the day. Among the others:

Health - down 2%

Energy - down 1.43%

Info tech - down 1.36%

Consumer staples - down 1.02%

Consumer discretionary - down 0.8%

Financials - down 0.6%

Materials - down 0.54%

11.53am: Hong Kong shares opened 0.73 per cent lower following the four-day Easter holiday, echoing falls on US markets sparked by disappointing jobs figures.The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 149.43 points to 20,443.57 in the first minutes of trade.

11.44am: On the business confidence survey, NAB said positive economic data from the US, signs the European economy was improving and a lower Australian dollar helped boost confidence.

‘‘The positive boost to sentiment in March appears to have partly stemmed from optimism about the recent moves to stabilise the Greek debt situation, as well as recent positive economic data out of the US,’’ NAB said in a statement.

‘‘However, this may have been partly offset by intensifying concerns of a more pronounced slowing in the emerging economies.’’

11.39am: Business confidence lifted in March amid signs the US and European economies were improving, a private sector survey has shown.

The National Australia Bank (NAB) Business Survey, published today, showed that overall business confidence rose two points to reach plus three points in March.

That means that, on balance, more businesses were positive about the economic outlook than negative. However, the confidence level remains below its long-term average of plus six points.

11.35am: ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said the job ads figures showed that unemployment should not rise too far in the coming months.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release March employment data on Thursday and the ANZ is forecasting jobs growth of 5,000 and an unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent.

11.32am: In firmer news on the economy, job advertisements rose for a third consecutive month in a sign that hiring intentions by businesses are continuing to improve, a private survey shows.

Total job advertisements on the internet and in major metropolitan newspapers rose 1.0 per cent in March, the ANZ job advertisements survey showed on Tuesday.

That follows a 3.3 per cent rise in job ads in February and a 7.5 per cent rise in January. In the year to March, job ads were up 2.8 per cent and are now at their highest level since November 2008.

11.30am: Despite the poor start, one analyst says futures prices pointed to a steeper decline and that the local market was marking a rare outperformance of weak overseas leads.

"Given the performance last night it is not a bad effort, but we have seen repeated underperformance as the US market has rallied," says CMC Markets chief strategist Michael McCarthy.

The local market has gained 6.7 per cent this year, compared with 10 per cent for the S&P 500 in the US, which is near a four-year high.

11.25am: The ASX200 is about 10 points off its low - down 0.8 per cent - and there's still a sea of red across the indices.

Energy stocks are down 1.8 per cent, financials are down 0.6 per cent, miners are down 0.8 per cent, industrials are down 0.4 per cent and the one exception is gold stocks - up 0.2 per cent.

11.17am: It's not so bleak on all markets - Tokyo stocks are up about 0.4 per cent in early trade.

11.13am: Australian Stock report head of research George Saffer says global markets were all lower and this has flowed through to the Australian sharemarket.

"Every sector is in the red today and most of the weakness is a result of the jobs data released in the US," Mr Saffer says.

"That's caused weakness in our markets."

11.06am: Mining magnate Clive Palmer has ruled out building a casino at his Sunshine Coast resort, but says he is considering a major investment in the region.

Mr Palmer says his Coolum Golf Resort and Spa is not the appropriate location for a casino because it is in an area set aside for families.

But he says there might be other, more suitable, sites on the Sunshine Coast.

10.54am: An item here from BusinessDay's Perth-based resources reporter Rania Spooner. Woodside Petroleum has secured government approvals to delay its final decision on the future of the controversial $40b Browse gas hub at James Price Point, by close to a year.

Woodside revealed its plans to push a final investment decision for the Kimberly site originally planned for mid-2012 out to the first half of 2013 in December.

The company's shares are down 2.1 per cent, or 7.4 per cent, to $34.44. Its shares are 12.5 per cent higher this year but down from the 52-week high of $50.85.

10.49am: Activity in Australia's construction industry contracted for the 22nd straight month in March, according to an industry survey, as home building and commercial property remained deep in the doldrums.

Today's survey of over 150 firms by Australia Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association found business complaining of to subdued demand, tight credit conditions and strong competition for available work.

The survey's overall construction index edged up 0.6 points in March to 36.2, but remained well below the 50.0 threshold that is supposed to separate growth from contraction.

10.45am: Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) shares have added more than 2.5 per cent today on a boost to expectations for how much uranium oxide it expects to produce in 2012 to between 3200 and 3700 tonnes.

The revised forecast issued today came as the uranium producer announced its March quarter operations review, which included a 51 per cent slide in total materials mined.

ERA, which previously expected annual uranium oxide production of 3,000 to 3,700 tonnes, said it had raised its forecast thanks to the earlier than estimated re-commencement of mining in the Ranger Pit 3.

‘‘However, production for 2012 remains highly dependent on the level of actual rainfall encountered for the remainder of the year,’’ the company said today.

10.41am: Leighton has been awarded a $420 million Indonesian mining contract over seven years from PT Marunda Grahamineral, Reuters said. Even so, Leighton shares are off 2.6%, or 54 cents, in recent trade to $20.57.

In dual announcements to the Australian Securities Exchange this morning, litigation funder IMF (Australia) which was backing the class action, said IMF would recognise revenue of at least $13.1 million from the action, if a sufficient percentage of group members agreed to release Transpacific from their claims.

Transpacific shares fell as much as 3.5 cents, or 4.5 per cent, to 74 cents in early trade. IMF shares rose as much as 1.5 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $1.37.

10.27am: To some of the bigger sliders so far today:

Aquarius Platinum - down 4.52%

Mirabela Nickel - down 4.46%

Evolution Mining - down 4.34%

Ausdrill - down 3.71%

AWE Ltd - down 3.37%

Aquila Resources - down 3.31%

10.19am: All sub indices on the ASX200 are lower so far today:

Energy - down 1.39%

Health - down 1.09%

Materials - down 1.06%

Info tech - down 1.04%

Industrials - down 0.96%

Financials - down 0.77%

10.12am: In early trade, the All Ordinaries index is 41.9 points lower, or 1 per cent, to 4360.4, while the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 43 points lower, or 1 per cent, to 4276.8.

10.10am: Shares in Austar are 4 cents higher, or 2.7 per cent, to $1.52 after the ACCC approved FOXTEL's takeover bid. The approval pushed the company's shares to a one-year high. They are up nearly 27 per cent for the year.

10.07am: Early take - As markets opens, stocks are down 0.6 per cent.

10.04am: Telco reporter Lucy Battersby writes that Telstra has requested a two-month extension to part of its separation undertaking, because of delays installing a new computer system.

It wrote to the competition watchdog on March 29 advising its IT vendor could not complete work on time, which means it cannot transfer Telstra customers to other retailers within three days, as required under the new separation rules. Instead it would need eight days.

At least one wholesale customer had asked for customers to be transferred within five days. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granted an extension until early May, but noted it was ‘‘disappointed’’ an extension was requested so soon after the new regime started.

10am: Mirvac Group has announced the resignation of chief financial officer, Justin Mitchell. Mr Mitchell has decided to leave Mirvac to pursue other opportunities, the company said.

It has started an external search for his successor although Mr Mitchell will remain in his role until 1 October,v 2012 to ensure a smooth handover, the company said.

9.55am: Gunns has today requested it shares remain in a trading halt while it "formulates an equity offer" that was first announced on 26 March.

The troubled timber products company has requested that its "suspension from trading continue until the details of the proposed equity raising, and associated document preparation have been finalised". It will update the market again on 16 April.

Gunns said on March 26 that it may seek to raise about $400 million to cut debt and support the development of its $2.5 billion pulp mill project. Shares in Gunns have not traded since March 9 when they were at 16 cents.

9.50am: Virgin Australia will invest $8 million in regional carrier Skywest Airlines to help expand their existing partnership.

The deal equates to Virgin taking a 10 per cent stake in Skywest, which already operates regional aircraft with Virgin and plans to use the investment to expand their services.

‘‘This investment highlights the confidence that Virgin Australia has in the Skywest business and our ability to tap into future growth opportunities in the Australian regional market,’’ Skywest executive chairman Jeff Chatfield said in a statement today.

Virgin said it believed the deal would allow it to capitalise on opportunities in regional Australia by expanding the partnership between the two airlines.

9.47am: A higher-than-expected inflation reading from China yesterday is also expected to weigh on investor sentiment today. Consumer pricesrose 3.6 per cent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said, more than the median 3.4 per cent estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Food-related costs gained 7.5 per cent.

9.43am: Looking again at the effect of the US jobs report, the VIX, which measures expected volatility on the S&P 500, rose 13 per cent to 18.81 today, its highest level in a month.

The VIX measures the cost of options on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which has fallen four straight days and retreated 1.1 per cent to 1382.20 today.

‘‘We’re in a corrective phase and people are protecting themselves,’’ Bob Baur, chief global economist at Principal Global Investors, which oversees about $242 billion, said today in a phone interview.

‘‘The economic data is softening and there’s a lot of risk in the market.’’

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it would not oppose the deal after accepting court-enforceable undertakings from FOXTEL. The undertakings prevent FOXTEL from buying exclusive internet protocol television (IPTV) rights for a range of TV shows and movies.

FOXTEL also is banned from exclusively buying any movies delivered on a transactional video-on-demand basis. The pay TV giant also is prevented from buying exclusive mobile rights to TV shows and movies where the rights are sought by its competitors to combine with IPTV rights.

9.35am: Local stocks are pointed lower in early trade today following losses in the US overnight. Markets didn't like a US jobs report at the end of last week which showed that 120,000 jobs were created in March, well below the 200,000 forecast by economists. The US economy has added more than 200,000 jobs in each of the previous three months.

US stocks tumbled overnight after on the first trading day since the jobs report. Here's how Wall Street finished:

S&P 500 lost 1.14% to 1382.2

Dow Jones Indus Avg lost 1% to 12929.6

Nasdaq lost 1.08% to 3047.08

9.32am: For a comprehensive look at this morning's business news, check today's need2know and the business press digest. And here are today's key markets links: